In Captured Umm Qasr, Saddam Still Inspires Fear

UMM QASR, Iraq (Reuters) - Sipping tea under a large portrait of President Saddam Hussein in a quiet back room in Umm Qasr, Khalid says the Iraqi leader still inspires fear in the only town so far captured by U.S.-led forces.

Outside, U.S. and British troops patrol the dusty, litter-strewn streets of the southern port and have fixed up water and electricity supplies cut in the early days of their ground invasion nearly two weeks ago.

But beneath the appearance of calm, residents say officials from Saddam's ruling Baath Party still have a hold on the town and say their best option for now is to keep their distance from invasion forces who had hoped to be welcomed as liberators.

"We are still afraid," Khalid said, sitting in the back room of his brother's store. "No one wants to be seen with foreigners. The Baathists can still punish us."

"We can't speak openly until we know that they are gone."

The mainly Shiite population of southern Iraq still has painful memories of a failed uprising against Saddam after the 1991 Gulf War. Abandoned by U.S. forces in their hour of need, the rebellion was brutally crushed by Saddam's forces.

If only to survive, Iraqis have grown skilful at political pragmatism. Khalid, who would not give his full name, is a member of the Baath party -- not from conviction but from necessity, he says.

"If you wanted to work, earn money for the children, you had to be a member of the party," said Khalid, who had a job at the port selling lifting equipment and worked as a carpenter in the evenings.

"There are no choices for us. We learned to keep quiet. We will stay quiet until we know our future."

RESIDENTS "TRUST NO ONE"

British forces based at an abandoned Iraqi military compound in the town center say they are making contacts with local political figures, but say it is too soon to establish a new administration until they have built more trust.

Like most in Umm Qasr, Khalid has little faith in his occupiers. "We don't trust anyone," he said.

The invasion triggered a desperate water shortage in the town and electricity was cut off for more than a week. Those problems have been resolved after British troops installed a pipeline from neighboring Kuwait and repaired the diesel-fueled power station.

But residents say food, petrol and other supplies are in short supply, as trade links to the main city of Basra have been virtually cut by U.S. and British troops encircling the city.

Some say they have been left out of work with U.S. and British forces now running the port, the main employer in Umm Qasr.

British troops with the help of Arabic translators are re-recruiting workers for the port, Iraq's only deep water harbor which will play a key role in the major humanitarian effort expected to accompany the war.

Khalid says he was told to come back next week, and is still trying to get hold of last month's meager pay of 3,000 dinars ($1).

"I have to go to Basra to collect my salary," he said. "But I cannot get into the city. Maybe tomorrow I will try again."